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Conga Eléctrica

While strongly rooted in the traditional son style, this album incorporates non-traditional elements such as electric guitar and a Brazilian-style bateria (drum section) to create an energetic new sound.

ABOUT THIS ALBUM

Album Notes

Conga Electrica is a diverse album with five new songs and five songs chosen from Cuba’s rich musical history. Its textures range from that of an intimate trio playing a “sambafied” bolero (Añorado Encuentro) to a “transient” take on Cuban carnival music with guitar hero Octavio Kotan’s pulsating riffs and Brazilian-style call and response drum breaks (the title track). The key innovation on this album is the integration, on four tracks, of “Bloco Quimbombó,” a Brazilian-style bateria or drum section. What the bateria does here is to add a dense layer of street drumming to the Cuban groove—beats tailor-made for each song by musical director and producer Nick Herman.

The album features the powerful callejero (streetwise) voice of Grammy-nominated Havana native David Oquendo, full of spontaneity and humor. Oquendo was likewise deeply involved in the band’s debut release, Quimbombó. Making his debut recording here as a lead singer is Igor Arias Baró, a young Cuban well known in New York for his energetic imporovising in the hard hitting timba style.